How to Downgrade from Sonoma to Ventura (Stepwise Guide)

You may have the question: "Can I downgrade macOS Sonoma?". The answer is definitely YES. This article gives you three ways to downgrade from macOS Sonoma to Ventura without losing data, even if you don't have a time machine backup.

The ways in this article are also suitable for downgrading Mac OS of any version, such as from Ventura to Monetery, from Monterey to Big Sur, or an older version of macOS.

Is it necessary to downgrade macOS?

Upgrading to the latest macOS Sonoma requires you to adapt its new features and redesigned look. Moreover, you also have to accept the macOS 14 updates issues or the new Sonoma's problems like software incompatibility and Finder springs back horizontal scrolling.

If you regretted upgrading macOS because of its massive changes and frustrating issues, uninstalling macOS will eliminate your annoyance and bring you a fluency experience. It is also a remedy when "This package is incompatible with this version of macOS" occurs.

Back up your Mac first!

The macOS downgrading process will erase all data on your Mac. Thus, you need to back up your Mac in advance.

If you only have a few files, copy them to an external drive as a backup. If you want to back up all data on your Mac, you can synchronize it to your iCloud if there's enough storage space. Or, you can back up your Mac files with Time Machine for restoring after rollback the macOS update.

Notably, macOS reversion will also erase all the passwords you used in the current OS, like passwords for apps and networks.

To save your passwords, you can check in Keychain in iCloud when using it to back up data. Or write down all the accounts and corresponding passwords.

Erase your Mac (Necessary)

After you've backed up your Mac, it's time to wipe all data on your Mac hard drive.

This step is necessary. Why? Because erasing your Mac hard drive is to make room for the older macOS you'll install. If you don't wipe the Mac hard drive, you'll face issues like:

• macOS Sonoma downgrading failure
• Sluggish performance of your Mac after macOS reversion
• The volume cannot be downgraded

Usually, the startup volume erasure task should be taken in macOS Recovery mode. Here's how:

The erasing process will take a while, don't do any other operation during the process, or the internal hard drive may be damaged.

Downgrade Mac OS with a Time Machine backup

If you've backed up your Mac with Time Machine before upgrading to the current macOS version, the macOS downgrade work will become very easy. That's because the backup contains your original macOS installer files.

After the Macintosh HD is erased in macOS Recovery, choose Disk Utility > Quit Disk Utility to return to the macOS Utilities screen.

Then, you can follow the steps to downgrade from Sonoma to Ventura or another version of macOS:

The restoring process will take some time. You can watch TV till the process is done. Then, your Mac mini or another model will automatically restart running macOS Ventura or the other macOS you've rolled back.

Downgrade Mac OS using Recovery Mode

However, if you have no Time Machine backup, how to downgrade macOS Sonoma?

You can boot your Mac into Recovery Mode to revert to the earlier macOS. This method is suitable for any Mac model at any age to downgrade macOS Sonoma without a Time Machine backup.

There's one thing you should pay attention to - check if the macOS you want to downgrade to like Ventura is initially shipped with your Mac.

If yes, please follow these steps to downgrade macOS:

If you're uncertain about the macOS version your Mac shipped with; or your Mac came with the macOS that is older than the version of macOS you want to downgrade to, you need to follow the above steps to downgrade your Mac to the shipped macOS first.

Then, upgrade the Mac to macOS Ventura or any version of macOS you want.

If you think this way to downgrade macOS Sonoma is useful, share it with others.

Downgrade Mac OS with a bootable installer

If you have some trouble with the above two ways, you can try to downgrade macOS Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, or Big Sur by creating a bootable installer.

Step 1: Change security settings

As a Mac with an Apple T2 security chip doesn't allow starting up from an external drive by default, you should alter the security setting before creating the bootable installer.

Step 2: Create a macOS Ventura or older bootable installer

Then, restart your Mac, and go ahead to create a bootable installer.

Note that if you had erased your Mac when trying the above two ways to downgrade from Sonoma, you need to create the bootable installer on another healthy Mac.

 Now, you have created a macOS Sonoma bootable installer.

Step 3: Use the bootable installer to reinstall Ventura or older on Mac

Please confirm the internet connection is okay. Then, follow these steps to use the bootable installer to reinstall macOS Ventura on your Mac.

Then, wait for your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro to reboot from macOS Ventura or another version of macOS.

Restore your data after downgrading Mac OS

After the downgrade from Sonoma to Ventura or from Ventura to Monterey, the last step is restoring data from the backup you've taken just now.

If you saved the necessary files or folders on an external hard drive, move them to your Mac.

Or, if you have backed up your Mac with Time Machine, you can use the Time Machine backup to restore your Mac with the help of Migration Assistant.

Here's how:

However, if your backup hard drive is lost or not working, you can get help from iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. This Mac Data Recovery focuses on recovering lost files, documents, folders, etc.

How to avoid Mac OS downgrading failure

Reversing macOS is a complicated task. If one of the steps to downgrade macOS goes wrong, you'll fail to roll back to the previous macOS version you want.

Here are some tips to avoid macOS reversion failure:

Remember to erase your Mac. Once you've backed up your Mac, go to macOS Recovery to erase the Macintosh HD or macOS volume where your current macOS stores. Besides, delete the Macintosh HD - Data or macOS - Data volume to completely clean up your startup disk and make room for the upcoming older macOS.

Keep your Mac connected to the power when downgrading macOS. When your Mac is reinstalling the older macOS, a power outage will cause the macOS installer to corrupt and consequently, Mac OS downgrading failure. You should keep your Mac being charged until the process is done.

Follow every step for downgrading macOS carefully. Whatever the way you choose to downgrade macOS, please follow every step carefully and do not arbitrarily change the order of the steps.

Final thoughts

As we know, downgrading Mac OS is not an easy task and will cause data loss. However, this post offers a complete guide to downgrading macOS Sonoma or earlier in steps, enabling you to have the biggest chance to go back to macOS Ventura or other versions without data loss.

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FAQs about downgrading Mac OS